Pansy And Hermione
by TropheyGirl
Summary: Hermione and Pansy have just entered they're 7th year at hogwarts and already they're having boy trouble. They find happiness where it is least expected however when Pansy does something...quiet unlike her. Rated M. H P pairings.
1. Unexpected actions

Pansy and Hermione

An unexpected love story between Hogwarts' finest ladies.

7th year at Hogwarts (I know, forget the fact that she wasn't THERE for her 7th year)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

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I stepped off the Hogwarts express onto the platform leading to the carriages up to the castle. There was a crowd and all I could see over the tops of their heads was Hagrid calling "Fris' years! O'er here" and 50 short students looking up at the half-giant, stunned. I turned to look for where Harry and Ron were and found that they had gone ahead without me.

Rolling my eyes, I called after them, "Guys! Aren't you forgetting someone?" and I ran after them. It was a cloudy, yet hot, afternoon. Almost like being in an oven.

"Sorry Hermione. We'd thought you'd gone ahead without us to do Head Girl responsibilities." Ron said, not looking at me. Ronald was jealous that I'd be spending all of my time with the Head Boy, and assumed that he was going to be from Slytherin House.

However, to be perfectly honest I was glad he and I would be spending less time together. The past summer he had tried everything to get me in the sack, which made me feel less and less like he was the "one". In fact, I'd been trying to avoid him as much as possible.

"No, but I do have a meeting after the feast." He looked up at me. "So, don't wait up for me guys!" I smiled and got into a carriage with Luna and Ginny, the latter welcoming Harry to come sit with her.

"Where am I going to sit?" Ron complained. "Hermione can you scoot over?"

"No I can't, sorry." Harry gave me a questioning look but I chose to ignore it.

"Harry, could I sit on your lap so Ronald can have a seat?" Ginny asked innocently.

"NO!!" Ron bellowed all of a sudden, scaring the horse to a hasty start to the castle, leaving Ron behind.

We all looked back at him as he ran after us a couple paces then gave up and watched us go. I turned back around in my seat and smiled to myself. The less I see of him, the better. I felt Harry's eyes on me but I didn't look up. I knew what he'd say, "He's been our best friend forever!" "We need you to be loyal to your friends." and of course, "Girls are so fickle!".

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back on my seat. I listened to the conversation that Luna was having with Ginny and Harry about whether or not Thorny Shnarkles exist or not, and I was glad that my eyes were closed when I heard Harry and Ginny making out in front of me. That was more awkward then I needed it to be.

The welcome feast went by as normally as it could seeing that Dumbeldor had been replaced by Professor McGonagal, so it was she who told the 1st years about the hat, it was she who waved her wand and the food appeared and it was she that, with another swipe of her wand cleared it just as easily.

Even though the same events happened, it all seemed tainted by the fact that it wasn't Dumbeldor's eyes twinkling at them from the Headmaster's seat, and that it wasn't his voice they were hearing a hearty welcome from. At the end of the feast McGonagal announced everyone was dismissed except for the head boy and girl.

Harry and Ron hung back to see who the head boy was but McGonagal shooed them along to bed and she followed them out to make sure everyone had found their houses prefects.

Once the room had cleared out of all the students there were two people sitting at the Slytherin Table. Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson. They looked like they were having a serious conversation that seemed to be getting more and more heated.

"I don't belong to you, Draco!" I heard Pansy hiss. She stood up and began to stomp off but Draco caught her by the arm.

"According to my FATHER," he pulled her close to him, "YOU DO!"

"Your "father" is a good for nothing DEATH eater!" She screamed at him trying to fight him off, but he kept his grip around her arms.

"How DARE you say that about my father!" His eyes got narrow and he grabbed her chin with one hand and her arms with another and began to kiss her roughly on the mouth. She struggled hard to get away but he was over-powering her, oblivious to the fact that I was sitting just a few feet away.

Memories of the summer's events flowed into my mind and I felt sick with anger. "HEY!" I stood up and yelled.

They both jumped away. "Get off of her!" I said a little louder, realizing, as if for the first time, just who I was talking to. Pansy took this opportunity to grab her bag and run to the door, at the door of the grand hall she turned back and looked at me as if unable to say something. Giving up she turned and almost smacked into Mcgonagal on her way out.

"Well, now. I must say I am most proud of both of you." the headmistress said. I was still glaring at Draco who had sat back down at the table to finish his pumpkin juice. "Is something the matter, Miss Granger?" she asked looking from me to Draco and back to me again.

After a long pause of weighing the possible outcomes that telling her what I had seen would bring about, I decided against it. "No, nothing." I muttered looking away from the blonde boy.

"Good, because this year is all about teamwork. You will need it in order to get anything done as heads of your houses." She went on to explain that every night it would be our job to patrol the corridors from after dinner until 8:00pm. "You were chosen for this job, because we think you'll be able to handle this and school so we expect you to get your homework done, No Excuses!" She looked stern as usual.

We were to patrol around common room entrances so we split them up. I would take Gryffindor and Hufflepuff and he would take Slytherin and Ravenclaw. "Get a good rest tonight, you start patrolling on Monday. Have a good night." She walked out of the grand hall through a special teachers entrance leaving me alone with Draco. A creep. That would probably rape me if he could. I grabbed my stuff and walked stiffly all the way back to the common room.

The next day classes started. There was a new Potions teacher (Professor Diggle), a new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher (Professor Mcgall) and a new Charms teacher (Professor Tweed). Professor Diggle was a plump man with a thick neck and small eyes.

He started out our Potions class by telling jokes, which no one laughed at. Seeing that as a queue to start teaching us something, he told us to stand up. Moans were echoed around the room but Professor Diggle just smiled and pulled out his wand.

"Numeroblada." He said and out from his wand shot black numbers that floated in the air above our heads. We all stared up and watched as one number landed over each of our heads. "Now, find the someone with your number and they will be your lab partners for the rest of the year."

Chatter filled the room as people either started complaining or calling our their number to find the other one quicker. My number was 7 and as I looked around I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and Pansy was standing in front of me. I looked up and saw that her number was 7 too.

I waited for her to say something. After what happened the night previously I wasn't sure where we stood.

"Thanks for...the other night." She said avoiding my eyes. I nodded, a half smile on my face.

"No problem." I said and then sat down and looked at my desk. She looked at me and I looked back, she smiled. I hesitated, wasn't this the Slytherin princess? Sworn to hate all Mudbloods? I smiled back, curious as to what this meant. She sat down next to me and Professor Diggle wrote down our number and our names saying he would have a seating assignment next class.

I pondered what this would mean for the rest of the day. When I tried to pay attention to what the teacher was saying my mind instantly went back to her smile, her shiny black hair, and her sorrowful eyes. At dinner Harry and Ron decided to ask what was wrong.

"Nothing," I responded, out of habit. I don't know why I didn't share this incredible news about a Slytherin being nice to me. I know they'd have wanted to know, but something told me not to ruin the smile we had shared.

"Ok, well. Are you done?" Ron asked, eagerly. "Want to take a walk by the forbidden forest?"

"Sorry, Ron. I have to do my rounds after dinner." I said glad that I didn't have to lie. "See you guys in a couple hours." I walked out of the grand hall, not looking back as Pansy had done.

Dodging Ron became what I focused on for the next couple weeks. Every time he asked me to be alone with him I always thought up a reason not to go, or at the very least, not to be alone with him. The only bad part to this tactic was that I never got to spend time with Harry, Ginny or Luna. I was always going off to Heads meetings or meetings with Mcgonagal. It was a good thing that Ginny and my room were right across the hall and I could go and talk to her whenever I wanted.

One Friday night, I was about to leave the grand hall to do my rounds when Ron came up behind me.

"Sorry, Ron. I have to do my rounds now." I said not looking at his face.

"I never see you anymore, Hermione." He said, shakily. I looked up at his face. It was red and he looked as though he had been crying or screaming. I looked back at the table and saw half the table was staring at us, thoroughly interested in what was happening. I looked back at Ron. "Do you love me anymore?" He demanded.

"I...I-uh..." I stammered. For once I was speechless. "Why would you say that?"

"Well," he lowered his voice, "we don't get...intimate...like we used to Hermione."

I stared at him in disbelief. "Well, I wonder why that is Ronald." I snapped at him. Looking at the table again I could tell that Ron had talked to each and every one of them about this "problem" of his.

"Why is it then?"

"I never wanted to have sex with you in the first place!" I heard a gasp from the table but I didn't look back at them.

"Hermione!"

"I only did it because for once in my life I felt like the "pretty girl". For once I felt that someone could love me for me and still think that I was beautiful and sexy. For the first time I felt like someone needed me, and YOU took advantage of that!" I yelled at him. He took a step back, his eyes big.

"How can you say that in front of all these people?" He asked, defensively.

"You're the one who dragged them into this, Ronald." I said through gritted teeth.

"Well, then. As far as I'm concerned, We're OVER." He said glaring at me.

I felt the tears coming up from inside me. He had been my best friend since school began, right up until we started dating. Then everything had just fallen apart. "Ffine!" I stammered.

I ran from the hall as I heard him say, "Fine." a horrible conclusion to a strained relationship.

I wandered the halls long after 8 o'clock. I didn't want to go where I knew I'd be near Ron. I was somewhere in between the library and the dungeon, I was walking by torchlight. I felt sad that he and I had ended so badly. I never wanted to lose a friendship, but at the same time I couldn't stand staying with him. I felt liberated and free. I had no restrictions, no rules telling me whom I should and should not talk to. Sighing, I turned a corner just in time to see something move up ahead.

A kid running around the castle after hours, no doubt. "Stop." I called down the hall. When nothing happened I started checking each of the classrooms on the side of the hall. I came across our potions class and I knew the student must be a Slytherin to be all the way down here in the dungeons. I opened the door and found Pansy rummaging through one of the supplies cabinets. I cleared my throat and she jumped and turned around.

"What are you doing down here, Pansy?" I asked.

"I wanted to get some work done on that project Professor Diggle assigned." she answered rather sheepishly.

"Really?" I asked, not believing her. I looked at the ingredients that she had taken out and realized they were only the ingredients he had said to work with. "Oh." i said stupidly.

There was an awkward silence between them and Pansy got up and sat on one of the desks. "So," she said, offering the desk next to hers. "What was that stuff at dinner about?"

At first I didn't know what she meant. But of course, she could have been there. The hall was empty of most of the students but some had stayed later to finish talking and eating. "Oh, uh... friend problems." I sat next to her. Accidentally so close to her that our arms brushed against each other. I blushed...but why?

"Sounded like he was more than a friend."

"Well, yeah, I guess." I swallowed. "He was my friend and then he asked me out and I thought "why not?". But then things happened and it went bad."

"Aw. That sounds like a bad situation." She said looking into my eyes.

"Yeah. The bad part is, I only ever thought of him as a friend. So now I'm losing a really good friend."

We talked for what seemed like an eternity. When I finally looked at my watch it was about 3 am.

"Wow. It's 3 in the morning!" I exclaimed. She yawned and got up from the table.

"Wow, time flies when you're having fun." She looked into my eyes when she said this.

"Yeah, maybe we can do it again, sometime soon." I smiled, "I know, why don't we go to hogsmede together tomorrow?"

She agreed and we decided to meet underneath the tall clock tower the following day at 1pm.

"Ok, see you there." I said as I turned to leave. I was half way out the door when I felt a hand gently pull me back and around. Pansy was looking straight into my eyes and slowly she leaned forward and gave me a sweet kiss on the mouth. She whispered in my ear: "Yes, you will." and then seemed to float out of the room, leaving me standing there stone solid, staring at nothing.

Please review. :)


	2. Confessions in a Park

Pansy and Hermione

Pansy and Hermione

Ch. 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Authors note: I can't tell you how good your reviews made me feel! Thank you so much for your support and I hope I can live up to your expectations. ) This Chapter is for you! By the way this is in Pansy's Point of View.

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"What did I just do?" I thought as I walked to my common room. I hadn't planned it or anything…I just got an overwhelming feeling and I just acted on it."Rependo" I muttered when I got to our portrait door. It swung open and I walked into the green common room. Deep in thought, I didn't see a certain blonde boy sitting on the couch, his wand drawn.

"Where have you been, Pansy?" his cold, calm voice made me jump. He got up and started walking towards me. I backed up into a wall. "Thought you could hide from me forever, did you?" he spat.

"N-no, I-I…" I stammered, his wand pointing at my face.

"To bad your little mudblood friend can't help you now." His wand was touching my forehead now.

"W-what are you going to do?"

He laughed a cruel heartless laugh, never taking his cold eyes off of me. "Nothing…For now." I gasped as his hand raised to grasp my throat, his wand pinning me to the spot. "But I would start behaving from now on. As you know, I have ties to the Dark Lord and he wouldn't be happy if my property ran away from me." He released my throat and strode out of the room.

I sunk to the floor choking from lack of air and the tears that were now streaming down my face. The only comfort I could find was the thought of Hermione's smile and the feel of her lips on mine. Unlike the other people in my life, it felt that she could understand me, that she would care about me someday. After I was sure Draco wasn't going to come back I got up and hurried up into my room.

The following morning I woke up early (to avoid Draco) and got dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, and a sweatshirt. I waited outside the clock tower for almost 3 hours thinking about what had happened the night before. What if she didn't come? What if she never spoke to me again? Around 12:30 I saw Hermione walking uncertainly toward the bench I was sitting on. She stopped in front of me and sat down on the bench adjacent to mine. There was a silence, not awkward, more like we were both in deep thought, thinking about the same thing: last night.

I wanted to say it was an accident, to laugh it off as if an extremely funny joke. But the words wouldn't come. Whether because I would be lying or I was too scared of her reaction I didn't know.

"Listen, about last night…" I started, rather uncertainly. She waited for me to finish. "You…er…I mean…"

"Don't worry about it." She smiled her beautiful smile. I was worried that she wanted to forget about it even happening. Maybe she had already started to forget.

"You…can forget it if you want…"

"I don't want to." She whispered after a pause.

I smiled and got up, feeling a surge of energy. We walked down the path that led to Hogsmede, talking about what we were thinking of buying when we got there.

"I hope to find a decent biography about Dumbeldore." She said, looking up at the cloudy sky. "Rita Skeeter is total and complete garbage."

I nodded in agreement. I hadn't ever gotten to know the former headmaster, he was just a wise old man who died fighting for a cause. However, I did know Rita to be a fraud.

"I hope I'll find a present for my grandmother. Its her birthday next week." I said.

"That's thoughtful of you." She said looking at me.

"Not really…if I didn't get her something she would be furious at me." I admitted. "She's not very pleasant."

"Really?" she asked inquiringly.

"Yeah. One time I forgot to send her a card for Christmas and she disapparated into my room, un-announced and started screaming at me: 'Ungrateful blah blah blah.'" I chuckled remembering the ordeal.

"Well, what kind of thing would she like? Books, chocolate, um… Jewelry?"

She definitely didn't know my grandmother. She was a muggle-born hater and only wanted dark items to add to her collection. "Um…not quite. She more into…darker things."

She seemed to get my meaning right away and the thought of a visit to the dark side of Diagon Alley seemed to frighten the color out of her face. I changed the subject.

"Want to stop in the Hogs Head for a butterbeer?" I suggested.

"Sounds good." She said, looking grateful for a chance to forget that subject.

We walked into the shabby inn and it took a while for our eyes to get adjusted in the dark. We wandered over to a table for two by the window, looking out into the street. We ordered and then took to talking and staring out the window. Hermione started to glance over her shoulder every couple minutes then looking back, obviously upset over something. I followed her gaze to the booth in the corner of the establishment and fear jolted through my body like lightening. There, in the corner sat Draco, Crabbe and Goyle, and they were looking straight at us.

"We should go." I said to Hermione but her gaze shifted to the front door. I turned around to see Potter and his two Weasley friends come in and sit down at the bar.

"I agree." She muttered standing up.

As if on cue Draco got up, his posse following him, and sauntered over to where Potter was sitting. I saw Hermione tense up.

"Hello, Potter." Draco spat.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" the eldest Weasley answered for him.

"I wasn't speaking to you, blood-traitor." He hissed, calmly. "I simply wanted to know the reason why your mudblood is hanging out with a pureblood?" He motioned towards us. "It seems to me that she's trying to taint poor Pansy's…Fragile…reputation."

I saw now what he was trying to do. He was trying to form a wedge between Hermione and I by attacking her and her friends. My blood boiled with rage against him. I prayed that Hermione would see through his insults and that she wouldn't think poorly of me.

"Shut your mouth, Malfoy." Harry came to her defense.

"It seems," Draco went on, ignoring Harry and now talking directly at our table. "that a certain mudblood needs to learn her place."

"Stop it, Draco." The words seemed to fly from my mouth before I could stop them. Potter and the Weasley's mouths dropped. They thought I was going to agree with him. They thought that I was on his side!

"How DARE you defy me?" His eyes had a manic quality to them. "You and I are superior! We deserve better than such FILTH." He started walking closer to me, his hand already on his wand. Fear sprang into me and I scooted as close to the window as possible. "Maybe you need to learn your place, too." I closed my eyes tight, waiting for the torture that was to come.

"NO!" It was Hermione! I opened my eyes and saw her standing in front of me, her arms outstretched as if protecting me from a fiery blast. There was a deafening silence and it seemed like everyone was waiting for someone to make the next move.

"Ahem." A voice from the bar cleared his throat. "You need to leave, sir." It was the manager and he had his wand drawn, pointing at Draco. He left without saying another word, but the look on his face said everything.

Hermione sat back down across from me. She was shaking slightly and I realized that although she defended me bravely, she was horrified of what could have happened to her.

"Thank you." I whispered. Shame spread over me. Why couldn't I have just defended myself? Why did I have to drag someone special like her into such ugly affairs?

I took her hand in mine, more to comfort myself than her. She smiled and did not remove her hand but she didn't say anything either. I was suddenly very aware that Potter and his friends were staring at us, at me. Our butterbeers arrived and we drank in silence.

"Does…Draco have some kind of hold on you…Pansy?" Hermione whispered. My name sounded so sweet coming from her mouth.

It took a while for me to answer. There was so much that I wanted to tell her. So much that I wanted her to understand. "I've…never told anyone this before…" I started.

"Oh, if its personal then you don't have to share." She looked down, embarrassed.

"No." I said with confidence. "I want to tell you." She looked into my eyes and I wanted to kiss her again, to show her everything that I was feeling for her at that moment, but I couldn't while her friends were watching. Especially since I didn't know exactly where she and I stood on that subject.

"Let's take a walk." She suggested, as if reading my mind. We paid for our drinks and walked out of the Inn, all the while the Weasley boy was staring at us. We walked down the street until we found a little park with a bench that we could sit on.

I took a deep breath. "Ever since I was little my family had been close to the Malfoy's. We went everywhere together. Even spent major holidays together. I didn't think much of it at the time. But, around the time that I got my first period things started to change. Instead of both the families spending time together, I was pushed to spend time alone with Draco.

"One night, I asked my father about this sudden change in attitude. He said, 'Lucious Malfoy has purchased you from me as a birthday present. From now on, you belong to them.' It was so cold. I honestly thought my family was better then the others, but caving under pressure of a known death eater when their only daughter was at stake…I couldn't believe it. I was so confused. Didn't my family love me? Hadn't I always done what they said; hadn't I made them proud?" I started to sob. "E-ever since I've been Draco's…slave." Hermione wrapped her arms around me in a soft embrace.

"He made me do everything for him. Then one night…one night he raped me. He said it was my 'duty as his possession'. I knew I had to get out somehow. So this summer, after I turned 18, I decided to run away from Malfoy Manor. No one can own me but ME." She nodded in agreement and I buried my face into her shoulder.

"I lived on the streets for a couple weeks until it was time to come back to Hogwarts. This is my only real home now and it's not even safe for me to be here anymore."

There was a long pause where Hermione just rocked me in her arms. It was a comfort to finally be around someone who understood, or at least tried to. I don't know how long we stayed like that but I was sure that it was where I wanted to be. I looked up into her face through tearful eyes. She gazed back at me with such kindness it was almost overwhelming. We leaned in slowly, about to kiss, when:

"What's going on?" I looked up and the Weasley boy was standing a few feet away, Potter and the girl behind him, looking shocked. "So, you left me for THIS?"

"Ron!" Hermione stood up, looking angry.

"You don't belong with someone like her." He spat in my direction. "She's probably in cahoots with Draco."

"Do you realize who you sound like right now?" She yelled in my defense. "You sound like MALFOY!" but whether he heard this or not, I don't know for he left before she could finish her sentence, the other two following him.

"AUGH!" Hermione groaned exasperated. I looked up at her, guiltily. She was losing her friends because of me.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled, looking down at my hands.

"It's not your fault." She said, "That's just how he is sometimes, a jerk. I didn't expect Harry and Ginny to follow him though." She sighed and we remained silent for a couple minutes. "If you need some where to stay tonight, I know a place."

"Really, where?" I asked, perking up. "I really don't want to go back to the Slytherin common room."

"Neither do I." She said. "When we're done shopping, I'll show you."

"Thanks a lot, for everything." The kiss that we were about to share seemed far away now. The mood had been broken and I didn't feel comfortable bringing it up now.

First we went to the Book Store and she purchased some new quills and a book, "Practical Potions for the Practical Witch". She couldn't find a biography that didn't have Rita Skeeters name written all over it. After we were done there it was time to go get my grandmother's present. Hermione hung back at a new jewelry shop that had just opened and I told her I'd meet her there in a couple minutes. I had already dragged her into my messy affairs once; I didn't want anything more to happen to her.

I ended up getting Grams an enchanted statue of a Raven. You place it in a room that you wish to guard and it detects any 'undesirables' (whoever that is to the person in ownership) that get close to the room by letting out a rather annoying birdcall. My grandmother is a very secretive person, so she would love something like this.

When I met back up with Hermione she was inside the jewelry shop, admiring a jade locket that was on a table. She seemed to really like it because she stared at it for quiet some time. I made a mental note to come back later to pick it up for her. Finally she looked up and saw me staring at her, hopefully not noticeably.

"Ready to go back?" She asked, leaving the store with me, pretending not to notice the package that I had under my arm. I nodded and we started back towards the castle.

"This has to be the happiest day I've had in a long time." I thought to myself as I listened to Hermione talk excitedly about one of the potions in her new book. "I hope nothing happens to ruin this feeling."

AN: Again, thanks for all the reviews! I hope this was good? Bad? Anything you think I should improve? Review away.


	3. The Room of Requirement

Pansy And Hermione

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

AN: Thank you very much for all the reviews! It's very cool to see that someone out there is reading this. By the way it's Hermione's point of view.

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We walked into the castle at around 5 o'clock. It had started to rain and we were soaked to the bone.

"Want to grab some dinner before we go to your new room?" I asked, my stomach growling.

She laughed, cute dimples forming on her face. "Alright, I'm pretty hungry, too." When we arrived at the great hall we stopped in the doorway. Where would we sit tonight?

The Slytherin table was out of the question; Draco and his friends were sitting there. Luckily they didn't notice us. At the Gryffindor table I saw Ron trying to ignore me by talking to Lavender Brown, but he kept glancing up at me to see if I was watching. Harry and Ginny were absent, not to my surprise.

"Uh, want to just stop by the kitchen?" I asked.

"You can do that?" She seemed surprised. We turned around and left the great hall. Harry, Ron and I had had so many adventures it didn't occur to me that she hadn't found the portrait leading into the kitchen.

"Oh, yeah. I do it all the time." I smiled and said, "Follow me."

I led her passed many empty portraits all the while looking for the one with a pile of fruit. The empty suits of armor clinked and clanked as we walked by them. Finally I stopped at the huge portrait. She stared up at it with an amused look on her face.

"So, what would you like?" I asked reaching up and tickling the pear. The portrait swung open and we entered, her more cautiously then me. Instantly we were swarmed by eager house elves, all asking what we desired.

"Uh…Um!?" Pansy seemed overwhelmed by all the questions.

"How about I start?" I mumbled to her and she nodded. "I would like…meatloaf, mashed potatoes, asparagus and a tall glass of milk, please." The elves flinched at the politeness in my tone but never the less turned to Pansy with huge eyes, waiting for more orders.

"Hm…that sounds really good. I'll have the same, only…" She paused and glanced over at me, unsure. I nodded urging her to carry on. Could you make that chocolate milk instead?"

"Right away!" the elves said in unison and instantly went to work.

"Haven't you been around house elves before?" I asked.

"Well, at the manor I never had to do any work in the kitchen. So, I never had to interact with them." She looked down embarrassed. "In fact, I never really gave them a second thought."

We sat down at a small table the elves had set up for us. Within minutes our food was done and had been set down in front of us. We ate, talking about our hopes for when we got out of Hogwarts and about the finals we would have to take in a short while. I told her all about my old plans to liberate the house elves and I could tell she was trying hard not to laugh, for which I was grateful.

About 2 and a half hours later we exited the kitchen, our tummy's happy and warm. Pansy seemed to have calmed down since earlier in the park.

"So, where is this special hide-out, of yours?" she asked laughing.

I grinned at her, "Its close." I said watching the corridor walls and thinking about a safe, comfortable place for Pansy to stay. We passed by a portrait of a Knight on a horse and I stopped. I walked by it again, then turned around and walked by it a third time.

"What are you do-" she trailed off as the portrait formed into a door.

"It's called the room of requirement." I said opening the door to let her in. Inside, the room had changed into what looked like a smaller version of the typical common room. There were two couches adjacent to one another and in between them an oval coffee table sat with several magazines and a copy of the Daily Prophet. Lining the majority of the walls were bookcases filled with numerous kinds of books. In one corner there was an area for studying: a desk with a lamp and a fresh supply of parchment and quills. Next to the couches there was a grand wood-burning fireplace, the mantle was carved with snakes and lions.

"Wow." Pansy whispered and I had to agree with her. The room and defiantly out-done itself this time.

We climbed the stairs into her new bedroom. There was a king sized bed with a green bedspread and two small tables on either side. There was a huge walk-in closet that already had some clothes inside. Across from the closet was the door to the bathroom.

"It's perfect." I said looking around the room. Pansy yawned. "You must be tired, I'll leave."

I started down the stairs and she followed after me. "Want to have breakfast together?" She asked nervously. "If we get up early enough we'll be able to eat at the same table."

"Sounds good." I said, stopping in front of the door. "Well, goodnight." I turned towards her and we stared into each other's faces, both not wanting to stop looking at the other. If only there were a way we could communicate without having to sneak out so late. Then I remembered something I had learned from Fred and George. "Oh!" I said suddenly, breaking the trance we had been in. I walked over to the desk, excited.

"Huh?" she asked. "What are you doing?"

'I need two empty diary's' I thought and almost instantly two medium-sized diary's appeared on the desk. One of them had a red plaid cover and my name in gold on the spine and the other had a green plaid cover and Pansy's name in silver on the spine.

I smiled, pleased, and picked up the two books. Holding one out for Pansy I said, "Here. Hold it against your heart." I did the same with mine. "Now, with the hand you write with hold mine." I held out my right hand and Pansy reached out with her left to clasp mine gently.

"Ok, now repeat after me." I cleared my throat. "Connection of the minds," she repeated, "Connection threw the pen." She repeated. "Ok, now together."

"Connection of the minds," our hands started to glow bright white and gold and my book became warm against my chest. "Connection threw the pen." The books glowed sliver and gold and then fell silent. There was a pause where Pansy and I stood there, our hands still clasped together, staring at each other.

"So…what does that do?" She asked looking down at her book.

"Well, here I'll show you." I grabbed a quill and wrote something down. "Now open yours." She did so and smiled.

"Brilliant!" She exclaimed.

I blushed. "Thank you…actually, I learned it from Ron's older brothers…"

She smiled and gave me a hug. I felt her cheek rub against mine and I smiled back. Looking at my watch I said my goodbyes and left to go back to the Gryffindor common room.

I had to hurry back before it got too late and I was found out of bed at 1 o'clock in the morning! I could have just lied and said I was patrolling the halls but I didn't want to risk lying to a teacher. I started to run up the flights of stairs.

I walked into the Gryffindor common room and looked around; it was empty so I sat down on one of the crimson couches in front of the fire. I opened my diary and read what we had just written down. '_Now we can send secret messages to each other._' was written in red ink in my handwriting and right under it read '_this is so cool, thank you!_' in green ink.

It was weird thinking about everything that had changed between Pansy and I. First year she was my enemy and Draco's friend. Who knew that she'd end up hating him and being nice to me? Right before my eyes green writing started to glide across the page: '_meet me at the great hall tomorrow around 7?_' it read.

I wrote back: '_Let's make it 8:30, I'm pretty tired._'

'_Whatever you want, Herms._' I smiled. That nickname reminded me of better times with Ron and Harry. One of the things I regretted the most was going out and having sex with Ron because it ruined our friendship. It was more that we had had sex that ruined it though. Ginny was right when she said 'Be careful who you get romantic with because once you do, you can never go back to being just friends.'

Almost as soon as I had thought about her she appeared, coming down the stairs. She seemed surprised to see me. "I didn't expect you to come back here, tonight." She said looking around cautiously. "Seeing as Ron's pretty upset with you, I mean."

"What do you mean?" I asked sleepily.

"Well, he kept calling you names and saying pretty scary things." She sat next to me, eyeing my diary. I closed it and held it against my chest. "Ron was waiting down here for you for the longest time but I had Harry talk to him and now they're in their room."

"Well, thank you for convincing him to go upstairs." I got up. "I wouldn't have known what to do if he had confronted me." She stared up at me and I could tell by the look on her face that she wasn't telling me the whole story.

"What's wrong?"

She had tears in her eyes as she said, "He…he said something…really bad. I'm pretty sure he didn't mean it but…"

"What was it, Ginny?" I asked, softly.

"He said…he said that he was going to kill you the next time he saw you." She started to sob into her hands.

Fear formed as a knot in my stomach. My former best friend/boyfriend wanted to kill me all because of what he saw in Hogsmede? What had he seen in Hogsmede…?

"I…don't know what to say." I said blatantly, opening my diary again. As Ginny sniffled and blotted her eyes with her sleeve I wrote down: '_I'm coming over. I hope you don't mind._' A few seconds later I got a reply: '_of course not, is something wrong?_'

I started up the stairs, Ginny getting up and following me into my room. I didn't have time to reply to Pansy. If I wanted to get out, I needed to leave as soon as possible.

"What are you doing?" Ginny asked, closing the door behind her.

"I'm leaving." I said, opening my trunk and throwing clothes, books and papers inside. Ginny started to tell me all the reasons why I shouldn't go, but I tuned her out. I didn't feel safe where I was anymore, so I had to leave.

I grabbed a pink shirt and held it up, unsure of who's it was. "That ones mine." Lavender Brown, who I thought was asleep in the bed next to mine, walked into the room leaving the door open behind her. I tossed the shirt onto her bed and resumed packing.

"Where have you been?" She asked, nosily.

"I could ask you the same question." I retorted, not looking at her. I didn't feel like explaining anything to her. Ever sense Ron and I had started dating at the end of the last year she had been nasty to me. Ginny said that it was because she secretly had a crush on Ron, and I took it to be the truth.

She laughed. "You don't want to know where I've been." She taunted.

I shrugged. She was right; I didn't want to know where she had been. Besides, if she didn't want to tell me, she didn't have to. Closing my trunk, I looked around the room for anything that I had left. Seeing nothing I began pulling my trunk out the door.

"Because, if you knew," She went on, oblivious to the fact that I wasn't interested. "You'd be insanely jealous."

I stopped at the doorway and sighed. "Alright I'll bite." I said, more annoyed than curious. "Where were you?"

She gave me an evil smirk. "Shagging your ex-boyfriend, Ron."

A weird feeling swept over me. Although I knew that all my feelings for him were gone (if there had been any to start with) I felt a twinge of pain in my heart. How could he have found someone new so fast? Didn't I mean something to him, or was I just some bimbo for him to fuck? I was enraged at Ron, disgusted with Lavender and all I wanted to do was leave to go be with Pansy.

"What's that look for, Granger?" Lavender sneered. "You aren't…Jealous, are you?"

I turned to look at her arrogant face. "Of you? Hardly." I rolled my eyes in fake indifference and I saw a look of disappointment on her face. "He obviously got horny and needed someone to _fuck_, so he grabbed the _easiest_ girl he could find."

I left Ginny and Lavender in that room, their mouths hanging open in shock. I didn't care, I just needed to leave before Ron showed up and tried to stop me. I levitated my trunk down the stairs and out the door. As soon as the portrait door swung closed behind me I took off running in the direction of the Room of Requirement.

As I ran I thought of what had been said. Was Ron serious when he said that he wanted to kill me? It seemed a little extreme, even for him. And was Lavender telling the truth or did Ron put her up to saying what she said to make me jealous? Either way, I wanted nothing to do with Ron Weasley ever again. He had hurt me for the last time and I was sick of being pushed around by uncaring, insensitive men.

I arrived outside the portrait of the Knight on the horse and thought frantically: 'I want to be where Pansy is.' The portrait opened and I ran inside. Pansy was sitting on the couch in a T-shirt and shorts; I must have woken her out of bed.

I was panting hard so it was difficult to say anything. "I…I'm sorry…if…I woke…you." She got up and walked over to me.

"You didn't. What happened?" She looked from me to my trunk, concerned.

As I explained what had happened we brought my trunk upstairs and put it inside her closet. I pulled out a pair of blue flannel pajamas and put them on in the closet. When I came out again the room had provided a bed similar to Pansy's with a Red bedspread.

"Wow." She said after I was finished. "You actually said that to her?" She grinned at me.

I blushed, "I was only defending myself."

"Because…you were jealous of her?" I could sense a trace of sadness in her voice and I saw her grin diminish. She sat down on my bed, watching me.

"No…More like I was shocked that he had moved on so quickly." I sat down on my bed, and hugged my knees to my chest. "I was hurt by how little he must have cared about me when we were actually going out."

She nodded but didn't say anything, deep in thought. I wondered if she was thinking that I was lying to her.

"I don't want anything to do with him." I said plainly. "Even if it turns out Lavender was lying. I want to move on." I leaned my head on her shoulder and she leaned hers on my head. This was so much better then being around Lavender and Ginny and the drama that came with them.

"Well," She said, getting up. "Time for bed." I nodded and she crossed the room and got into bed. I yawned as I did the same.

"Goodnight, Pansy." I whispered after turning of the lights.

"Goodnight Herms." I heard from across the room. I smiled and fell asleep almost instantly.

.

.

The next couple of days went by drama-free. In fact, during class Ron and Lavender didn't even speak to me. Harry, having no grudges against me, became my partner in every class except Potions. It was during those classes that Pansy and I used the diary's the most. We would act like we were taking notes when really we'd be talking to one-another.

However, it was during potions class that we started to be picked on a lot. It started with Draco, as these things usually do. I had just answered a question that Professor Diggle had asked the class when I heard Draco's weasel-like laughter from behind me. I chose to ignore him, focusing instead on the Potion brewing in front of me. Pansy, on the other hand, had turned around and was whispering something to him.

"Is that a threat?" Draco asked, absurdly loud. Professor Diggle looked up from his desk at Pansy and I nudged her under the table, with my foot. She glared at Draco but turned back around in her seat.

"That's what I thought, _Dike_!" He and his two lackeys started to laugh while most of the rest of the class looked confused. I glanced at Ron and he was pretending I didn't exist.

"Mr. Malfoy. I won't allow that kind of language in my class." Professor Diggle said. "Five points from Slytherin." The Slytherins groaned and shot Draco annoyed looks.

This same type of stunt continued on, only more subtlety now that they knew the Professor would punish them. The only place I could unwind and bring down my defenses was inside the Room of Requirement with Pansy.

We spent everynight together in the room. We usually did homework and talked about how our days went. Pansy, once she had a chance to unwind was very funny. She could make something that was incredibly dull, like a history of magic lesson and make it an interesting, funny story.

There were serious nights, too. Those were the nights when I was particularly glad I was there with her. We talked about everything; from our childhoods to politics. Even when we disagreed it was always a pleasant and interesting conversation. The fact that we could understand where the other was coming from was a comfort. I felt like I could talk to Pansy all night and day and never get bored or tired of being around her like I did sometimes with Ginny.

I started to only want to be around her. I found myself rushing to our common room after school just to be with her. These new feelings were confusing to me. I spent most of my alone time, contemplating them. Was it ok for me to feel this way? Did Pansy feel the same about me? What would people say when they found out I had a crush on a girl…a Slytherin at that. I wanted so badly to be able to discuss these new feelings with someone, with Pansy. But I couldn't take the rejection. I couldn't risk losing another friendship because of romantic feelings. I had to be absolutely sure before I acted.

I decided that I needed to talk to someone about it. After dinner one night, I told Pansy I had head stuff to take care of and that I'd see her after I was done. After she exited the great hall I walked over to where Harry was sitting, surrounded by Ron, Ginny and Lavender. I knew Ron wouldn't try anything violent in the busy great hall, however he did turn to start kissing Lavenders neck. I turned to Harry, doing my best to ignore Lavender's pointedly loud giggles.

"Could I talk to you for a moment?" I asked, Harry looked up and nodded, food in his mouth. "Um…alone?"

He swallowed. "Oh! Uh, yeah…" Harry looked at Ginny. "Sorry, I'll be right back, hun."

Ginny nodded understandingly but watched us as we left the great hall. We didn't get far before we ran into Draco, leaning against the corridor wall.

"What's this now?" he sneered. "Cheating on that blood traitor already?" He was directing this comment at Harry.

"Shove it Malfoy." He muttered and kept walking. Draco laughed but did not say anything more. I led Harry out by the lake and we sat down on a boulder. The cool autumn air filled my lungs as I took a deep breath.

"Harry…I…"

"You like Pansy don't you?" He interrupted me. His eyes seemed to be x-raying mine and I knew there was no use in lying.

"Yes…" I mumbled looking down. "Is it that obvious?

"No." He smiled. "Only to someone who knows you as well as I do. Every time you see her or hear her name, you light up." I blushed. Harry was like a brother to me and I was so happy that he understood me so well.

"Should I tell her?" I asked.

He paused, thinking. Then, "Back before I had found out I was a wizard and I was living under the steps at the Dursleys I was watching a movie. One line stood out at me and it's the only thing I can remember from that whole movie." He laughed. "Someone said 'As soon as you feel that you love someone, you've got to say it. Right then and there. Or else the moment will pass you by and you'll be stuck wondering what could have been.'" He smiled calmly.

"So…you're saying I should tell her?"

"Only tell her if you don't want to be wondering for the rest of your life." He said simply. We sat there in silence for the longest time, just thinking.

"I'm going to do it." I said, breaking the silence. "I'm going to tell her."

"Good thinking." Harry said.

I reached over and pulled him into a platonic hug. "Thanks." I whispered.

"W-What's going on?" I heard from behind me. I whirled around and saw Pansy looking betrayed with Draco behind her, a smirk on his face.

"See? I told you they were more than 'just friends.'" Draco spat. Pansy looked heartbroken.

"No!" I pleaded. "We are just friends!"

"It doesn't look like it!" Draco sneered.

"Shut _UP_ Malfoy! Stay out of this!" I yelled, angry I wasn't getting a chance to explain. "Pansy! Really, Harry and I were just talking. I had a problem and I needed some advice."

"Why couldn't you have talked to me about it?" She asked. "I thought we could talk about anything."

"I wanted to, Pansy." My voice was soft now. "But…"

"But what?!" her eyes were filling with tears.

"But…I couldn't!" My eyes became blurry too. "I wanted advice before I talked to you about it…because…" She gave me a questioning look. I glanced back at Harry who gave me an encouraging smile. I took a deep breath.

"I…I think…" I started but was interrupted by Draco's loud fake snore; he was pretending to fall asleep from boredom.

"Stupid git." I heard Harry mutter as he shot a binding spell at Draco and he fell to the ground.

"Go on." Pansy said impatiently.

"_I love you._"

.

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AN/ Wow! That was longer than I had expected it to be. I hope you like it. Reviews let me know what I should do better, so…review. :D


	4. Tainted

Pansy And Hermione Pansy And Hermione

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

AN: Thank you very much for all the reviews! It's very cool to see that someone out there is reading this. It's Pansy's point of view.

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"_I love you_."

Shocked, I stood there staring at the girl that had just confessed her love to me. Maybe I had misheard her; maybe she hadn't said that at all.

"E-excuse me?"

"I said: I love you, Pansy." She said again, softer this time. She walked over and stopped in front of me, her face was red and tears were trickling down. I didn't know what to say so I just embraced her and hid the tears that were now running down my own face into her shoulder.

After a short while, Potter spoke up, "I'll leave you two alone." He started dragging the bound Draco back into the castle.

We broke away and stared at each other. How could she love me? How could anyone love me? I was pathetic, useless and tainted. I couldn't comprehend how she could return my feelings, without even knowing about them. Why had I believed Draco? Why had I let him smooth talk me like he has smoothed talked so many others?

"So…?" She asked awkwardly, wiping her face dry. I realized that I hadn't responded yet and I felt even worse.

"Hermione…I don't know why any of this makes any sense. I don't know how you could possibly love someone like me, but," I took a deep breath. "_I love you, too_." I said, trying to be brave. "I mean, am I wrong? Am I wrong to love you like I do?" A smile so big emerged onto her pretty face and new tears sprung from her eyes. "Please don't cry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

She shook her head. "You didn't. I'm…I'm just so happy." She laughed nervously and my heart felt light. "I was ready to be rejected, honestly. I was so scared."

I brushed some hair out of her face and said, "Don't be." I leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips and she wrapped her arms around me in a hug. Bliss filled my entire body; I felt that if she and I were together we could overcome any obstacles that came our way.

.

We walked into the castle hand in hand heading to the room of requirement so we could talk more privately. It was dark out now and we could hear the owls cooing in their nests. We passed a dazed Draco on our way and I assumed that Potter had confunded his memories of what had just occurred.

"I hope he doesn't remember anything." I whispered to Hermione once we got out of earshot. "That would mean big trouble for us."

"Why? I don't give a rats ass about that ferret boy." She chuckled.

"Well, the only thing is…He could tell his father." She stared at me, in shock.

"Would he do that?" She asked, a hint of fear in her eyes. "What would Lucious do?"

"I don't know." I said honestly. "But whatever it is, it wouldn't be good. For either of us."

We stopped in front of the portrait and waited for it to change into a door. It didn't change. I was about to lift the portrait off the wall when Professor Tweed, the new Charms teacher, strode around the corner, as if expecting us.

"Hello, girls." She greeted us as we jumped away from the portrait. Did she know about the room of requirement?

"H-Hello, Professor." Hermione stuttered. I didn't say anything, but stared at the professor, wishing that she wouldn't ask any questions about why we were out so late.

"So, you're the two that have been using the ol' Room of Requirement. Now, I know it is amusing to have your own little clubhouse, but I'm afraid you can no longer use it." She chuckled and my spirits sunk. No more sharing a room with Hermione? Now where would I stay? I couldn't go back to the dormitory. She glanced at me and, as if noticing the fear in my eyes, said, "However, if you have a legitimate reason to stay I could arrange for you to have your own rooms." She smiled and beckoned us to follow her down the hall and into her office.

"Follow my lead." Hermione whispered into my ear. We took a seat in front of her desk and Professor Tweed sat down and smiled at us.

"I supposed you're wondering why the portrait wouldn't open for you." She said, seeming to be proud of herself. "I just required for it to only open to me until you two came back. Clever, no?"

Hermione gave her a disgusted look and I could tell what she was thinking. Anyone who had to proclaim their intelligence was only proving their ignorance.

"Yeah, sure." Hermione said, politer then I would have been. "Professor…It turns out that we do have a legitimate reason to be on our own. You see, I'm a…" She paused and glanced at me. "A lesbian."

"I see." Professor Tweed said looking at us. "And, you want to be together…so you are using the room of requirement?"

"No. You see, I'm a lesbian," She said it with more confidence this time, "And I've been suffering harassment from the other Gryffindors about it, that's why I left. However, Pansy here," She motioned to me, "Is not a lesbian. She's just a really good friend of mine."

"I see." She said unbelievingly. "And, Pansy, why are you required to stay with miss Granger?"

"I-I'm not required to…" I started, unsure of what to say.

"You see professor, Pansy's family life-"

"No, I want Pansy to answer me." Professor Tweed said staring at me with ex-ray eyes.

"Ok." I said, staring right back. I wouldn't be intimidated into going back to where I didn't feel safe. "It's pretty complicated, to tell you the truth."

"I have time." She said, nonchalantly.

"Well, good." She was pissing me off now. "There's a boy in Slytherin house who my family sold me to when I was underage. He expects me to be his sex slave, so I left." I said curtly.

She didn't say anything but looked concerned and shocked. "Well, that won't do at all. Who is this boy I will see that he is disciplined at once."

"No, Don't!" I said, a little louder then I had planned. "His father is a very powerful deatheater. If he were to find out I told anyone about this…he would surely have me, or my family, killed."

"Oh." Was all she said. She sat there in deep thought for a few seconds. I glanced at Hermione and she looked pleased, as if we had just won a case in court.

"Alright." Professor Tweed said after a while. "I'll allow you two to have your own rooms. I'll try to make it as identical to what you had in the Room of requirement as possible. You may spend one last night in the Room of Requirement while I make the arrangements, but report to me first thing tomorrow after breakfast and I'll take you to your new rooms."

We thanked her and left the office. We didn't talk as we walked to the portrait of the Knight on the Horse, went inside and sat down on the couches by the fire. I sat next to her and she leaned in and put her head on my shoulder. I smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"We got lucky today." I said, after a while.

"How so?" she asked, staring into the fireplace.

"Well, we could have been discovered by Draco and we could have had our room taken away from us." She nodded.

"What are we going to do when the school finds out about us?" She asked. I hadn't thought about that. To me, it didn't matter as long as I was with her, and Draco was oblivious. "Should we deny it? Or should we be outright with it? Kissing and holding hands in public and all?"

"I think we should…pretend like everything's normal in public." I said softly, trying to not hurt her feelings. "Because if Draco finds out…"

"Right." She looked at me. "So for now, we'll just act normally." I nodded.

As we sat, watching the fire I thought about what this meant. Hermione and I loved each other. I felt as if nothing mattered in the world except the girl that was now in my arms.

"Hermione?" I whispered.

"Hm?"

"Are you my girlfriend?" I asked, feeling silly.

She smiled and nodded. "I like the sound of that." She said dreamily.

I liked the sound of that too. Hermione Granger, my girlfriend. Now when people ask 'Who's that?' I can answer proudly, 'She's my girlfriend, Hermione.'

I felt happy and giddy all over, but there was one thing that was nagging at the back of my mind. Why did she love me? How could anyone who knew my past and everything that I had done ever love someone like me. Not only was I horrible to muggle-borns, but also, I was tainted. Tainted with the stench of Draco that all the cleansing magic in the world couldn't erase.

After a while she said, "The Halloween dance is coming up. Maybe, we could go together." She glanced up at me, "It's a costume party so we could dance and be together without people knowing who we are."

"You're so brilliant." I smiled at her and leaned in and kissed her cheek.

She blushed and said, "Its two Saturday's from now."

"Want to go to Hogsmede tomorrow, seeing as it's Saturday? We can go get our costumes, it'll be fun." I suggested, thinking of what I would go as.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun. I have to be back by 5 o'clock because I have a Heads meeting to finish planning the event. Is that ok?"

"Of course. How are you going to be around Draco? Maybe you should bring Harry, for protection." I knew Draco to be a heartless person, uncaring and manipulative. I didn't trust him around her, especially now when so much was at stake.

She chuckled, "I'll be fine. I've handled him before." I could see a trace of worry on her face but it was gone in a flash and replaced by her usual smile. I decided I would have a talk with Harry before that meeting, maybe he could secretly watch over her?

We spent the rest of the night talking and laughing by the fire. We planned where we would go the next day and what costumes we would buy. I was so content; I had almost forgotten all my family problems and even the fact that I was tainted. All I cared about was that moment, where I was happy, where I was loved. Where I was with _her_.

.

The next day we woke up on the couch, still holding each other. We got dressed in our weekend clothes and went down to breakfast. After receiving many glares from the Gryffindors I sat down across from Hermione at the end of the table.

"You think they'd be used to it by now." She muttered, reaching for a waffle.

"Yeah, I know." I rolled my eyes. "But I don't mind it as long as I can eat with you." She looked up and smiled. Without thinking I reached out and held her hand in mine, above the table. She pulled away from me and gave me a questioning look. Luckily, Harry was the only one who seemed to notice. He picked up his plate and came to sit down next to us, and his girlfriend followed. Ron was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, how's it going?" He asked, sitting down next to me.

"Good." Hermione and I responded in unison. Ginny sat down next to Hermione and began to ask her questions about her potions paper that was due on Monday.

"Harry?" I said looking at my food.

"Yeah?" He took a bite of hash browns.

"Thanks…for yesterday." I saw him smile out of the corner of my eye.

"No problem."

"Hey, guys we'll be right back. I need to go find Ginny a book to help her out." Hermione said suddenly and they got up and left for the library. I took this opportunity to talk to Harry.

After I was sure that they were gone I turned to him and said, "Um…there was something I wanted to ask you…about Hermione." I started fiddling with my napkin, wringing it smaller and smaller.

"What is it?"

"Tonight there's a Heads meeting and Draco is the Head boy."

"Yeah I know. How _that_ happened, I'll never know." He rolled his eyes and smirked.

"I was wondering…if you could maybe keep an eye on her?" I swallowed. "Not that I don't trust her or anything. It's that I don't trust _him_. I'm worried that he'll try to do something to her."

"Why don't you tell her not to go?" He asked, worried.

"She seemed to think she could handle it. But I'm not so sure. I know what he's capable of and I never want Hermione to go through what I've gone through…ever."

"And you can't go with her?"

"He'll get suspicious if I'm always around her. And trust me…that's bad for both of us." After I had successfully ripped my napkin to shreds I began pushing the bits of egg around on my plate. "If you could somehow keep watch over her, undetected, then I would feel loads better."

His eyes seemed to light up when I said 'undetected'. "I've got just the thing." He said, with a smile. "But, you should join me. You said yourself you know what Malfoy's capable of. You'll be able to tell if he's up to something or if something's not right."

I paused for a moment. He was right, I knew Draco well, even if I didn't want to. Even if I closed my eyes I could still see the look on his face whenever he required my…services. "I'll do it…for her."

"Good." He nodded and resumed eating. Through a mouthful of food he said, "So, you guys going out now, or what?"

I chuckled. "Yeah. We are." I smiled at the thought of it.

"Good. You two seem good together."

"Thank you!" Hermione seemed to pop out of nowhere, Ginny following close behind her carrying a mountain of books.

"Jeez!" Harry exclaimed eyeing Ginny's bundle. "You think you gave her enough material, Herms?"

She laughed, whole-heartedly. "Well, she said she wanted a good grade, so I'm just helping my friend out."

"Aw that's so like you." A voice from behind Hermione said. She turned and revealed Ron, his eyes were blood-shot and dark circles were forming under his eyes. His hair was unkempt and he seemed to be wearing yesterday's clothes. "You like to think you're helping when really you're just…hic…making things worse!" He slurred his words.

"Are you drunk, Ronald?" Ginny asked, astonished.

"Oh, don't start with that 'Ronald' crap." He spat at her. "You sound just like mum." Ginny looked taken aback, but didn't say anything else.

"Ron?" Harry got up and sniffed the red-head's breath. "You're drunk!"

"You're a faggot, shut up…hic!" He wandered over to the other Gryffindors, who looked at him with as much surprise as we had, and sat down. Harry sat back down next to me.

"God, he's turned into such a dick." Harry glared in Ron's general direction. I glanced at Hermione and she had a look of shock and guilt. I figured she needed to talk to someone about this so I got up.

"Ready? We need to stop by Professor Tweed's office before we go to Hogsmede." I said, offering my hand to help her out of her seat. She nodded and accepted my gesture.

We walked out of the great hall and began in the direction of Tweed's office. Hermione walked in silence, deep in thought. I decided to break the ice and see if I could get her to talk about this.

"What was up with Ron today?" I asked, innocently.

"I dunno." She said, absently. "The only other time I've ever seen him drink like that was the first time I broke up with him." She stopped and looked down at her feet, her hair falling and covering her face.

"You broke up with him before?" I asked, encouraging her to talk about it. I took a seat on a nearby bench and motioned for her to sit down next to me, which she did.

"Yeah, over the summer." She sighed. "He had been pestering me to…go all the way with him. So I decided to break it off, before I caved in and did something I would…regret." She sniffed, and I wondered if she was crying behind her hair.

"What happened? Why didn't you two stay broken up?"

"He cried, stormed off, and apparently got really really drunk. He began to talk about how nothing mattered anymore, how I was his world. Quite frankly, I was afraid that he would try to kill himself. So I took him back." Her breath had become hitched and I knew she was crying. I pulled her close to me and rubbed her back.

"Did something happen that night?" She nodded. "Did he…guilt you into having sex with him?" She nodded again and I could see her crumble and give into the tears she had been fighting. She began sobbing loudly and I held her close to me.

Her breathing had become hysterical by this point. She had to gasp for air every couple of words and she buried her face in her hands. "I feel…so used." She sobbed harder. "I feel so…_tainted_." The word seemed to trigger something inside me and I felt a great pang of sorrow for the girl sobbing in my arms. Tears for her, and selfishly for myself, began to flow down my own cheeks. "How could I have let someone…u-use me like that? Why wasn't…I s-strong enough?!"

"Shh, shh." I began to comfort her, rocking her slowly in my arms and in doing so it felt as if I was comforting myself as well. "It's not your fault." I said, the tears flowing heavier down my face and I wiped it on my shoulder. "Y-you're strong, Hermione. You're beautiful, and smart and…I love you."

She looked up and noticed that I was crying as well, she seemed so moved by this that she leaned in suddenly and kissed me, for the first time, gently on the lips. Our faces were red and wet with tears and snot but it was the most romantic moment of my life.

After we had both calmed down she said, "The only reason I felt it was safer to break up with him here was I knew he had friends. I knew that he had a support system to back him up. But it looks as if he's started drinking regardless of what his friends think." She had a look of pure guilt on her face.

"Hermione, you have to know that it's not your fault." I said, squeezing her hand. "You had to break up with him, it was an abusive relationship and if you had stayed with him you wouldn't have been happy." She nodded, only half convinced. "Listen, if he wants to drink and mope around, let him. He's convinced himself that that's the only way to feel better, and only he can get himself out of a situation like that."

She wiped her eyes and got up. "You're right. If he wants to act that way…then that's the way he's going to be. I can't help him."

"And if you tried, you would probably be putting yourself in further harm." She nodded again. I pulled her into one last hug and we started off for Professor Tweed's office, hand in hand.

When we arrived at her office, she was waiting for us at the door. "Oh, there you two are!" She smiled and then, seeing our tear stained faces, frowned. "What happened?"

Thinking fast I said, "Those bigoted Gryffindors again. Called her a…dike."

"Oh, that's just awful!" She said, locking her door. "Someone should do something about those students." She started walking down the hall and we had to hurry to catch up with her.

"So, your new rooms are in the western wing of the school, so you'll have a nice view of the lake." She sounded like a realtor, trying to sell a house. As we walked I noticed that we passed the kitchen portrait and I was relieved that at least we'd be close to food if we wanted it. "And here we are." She said, stopping in front of a large portrait of a frail looking girl with a cat on her lap.

The portrait was like most others in the castle except when we heard the usual "Password, please" it wasn't the girl who asked, it was the cat, its whiskers twitching as it talked.

"They're new tenants." Tweed said to the cat. She turned to us, "What would you like the password to be?"

"Athena?" Hermione said, looking at me. I nodded; the idea of the Greek goddess of war seemed to fit our moods at the moment. The portrait swung open and we entered. The common room looked remarkably similar to the one in the room of requirement, only with more couches, a bigger fireplace and what looked like a balcony behind the grand staircase that led to our rooms. The walls were jade green and gold lions were embroidered along the top of the wall.

After we had explored the room, we noticed that professor Tweed had left, so we gathered our purses and walked out to the path that led to Hogsmede. We spent the rest of the day there, going to different shops and trying on costumes for the dance.

I decided on a sexy vampire costume, complete with fangs and strappy high-heels. Hermione said that my pale complexion and black hair really completed the look. Hermione had a more difficult time choosing a costume. She seemed repulsed by the many floozy outfits, and the only ones left were either two ugly or just plain expensive.

"Why can't there be a modest, yet attractive costume that doesn't cost a fortune?!" She exclaimed, frustrated. "I mean, seriously. Parents wonder why their kids are growing up so fast, it's because of this kind of marketing."

Finally she decided on an Egyptian witch outfit. It was a linen robe with gold sandals that entwined all the way up to her knee. She had a small gold headdress, gold earrings and bracelets. The only thing missing was a necklace, but the store clerk said that the necklace had gone missing a few days ago and that they would give us a discount. The necklace had been perfect. It was the same color gold as the rest of the jewelry but had a rattlesnake ready to strike on the largest ruby pendant. We left the store and went to a small café to order sandwiches for a late lunch.

Thinking about the missing necklace, I remembered the jade necklace Hermione had been looking at the last time we were in Hogsmede together. I made the excuse of going to the bathroom so I could slip out and purchase it for her.

On the way back from the jewelry shop, I noticed Draco was going into a dark magic shop. Having a new surge of courage from earlier that day, I followed him in, taking care not to let him see. He went straight to the counter and asked, "Do you have in fresh truth potion?"

"You're in luck, young Malfoy." The clerk said in a raspy voice. "We have one bottle left and we aren't due for another shipment until next week." He pulled out a small bottle from a shelf behind him.

"So, I suppose we're _both _lucky that you had one more bottle." He said in a threatening tone. "I need it for tonight." The clerk stopped smiling and quickly rang him up. I ducked behind a shelf of books as he walked haughtily out of the store and out of sight. 'So, that's what he's planning for tonight.' I thought as I pretended to browse the section. There were many dark books on the shelves, I recognized most of them from the Malfoy's private library, but one book in particular caught my eye. I picked it off the shelf and opened it. The Malfoys had this book and I remember that Draco always had it with him. I decided I would buy it and find out just what he was up to.

"What kept you?" Hermione asked, suspiciously once I returned to the table. "It's nearly 4:30, we should start heading back soon."

I told her about seeing Draco enter the dark shop and what I saw him buy. She didn't say much but looked concerned and eyed the book under my arm. "And you bought something while you were there?"

"Uh…yeah." I said, nervously. I didn't want her to get the wrong idea. "You see, I've seen Draco with the same book. I need to know what he knows if I'm ever going to overcome this hold he has over me."

She smiled wearily and began walking up the path back to Hogwarts. I could tell that she didn't like the idea of a dark magical book, probably because of the enchanted book Ginny had in our second year. Back then I didn't care about them or anything really, so I had thought it was funny. I regretted more than anything the actions of my past and I wanted to make up for them.

.

Harry met me in the great hall after Hermione had left for the meeting in the library. "So, what's your plan?" I whispered as we left and started hurrying towards the library.

"This." He pulled out a weird semi-transparent cloak. "It's my invisibility cloak. It was my dad's." He beamed with pride. He put it on and completely vanished.

"Wow, I'm impressed." I said sincerely. "I've seen a lot of dark magicians fail at creating such a fine cloak. This is a rarity."

He dropped the hood and the look on his face told me that I didn't know the half of it. He wrapped it around me and we walked the rest of the way into the library. Once inside we looked around for the table where Hermione and Draco were at and found that they were sitting in the far corner. There was tea set out for the two of them and as we got closer we could eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Where'd the tea come from?" She asked cautiously, not touching it.

"McGongal said it would calm us, or something." He muttered and took a sip of his tea. Hermione pushed hers away from her.

"I'm allergic to tea leaves." She lied and I smiled, good for her.

"This was made with tree oil, she said. It's actually pretty damn good." He took another big sip and grinned. It made me want to gag. I looked at Hermione and she had a look of repulsion on her face.

"Let's just get down to planning this thing, ok?"

"Are you sure?" He pushed her cup toward her. "Its so tasty, you don't know what you're missing."

"That's ok." She shuffled through her papers and asked, "Do you think we should have the regular pumpkin lanterns or should we try something new this year?"

"I think you should try the tea." He said, sounding angry.

"Get over it, I'm not going to." She glared at him.

He sighed. "Fine, fine." And with one swift motion he pulled out his wand and pointed in between her eyes. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this." He spat.

In one quick motion Harry and I both drew our wands and pointed them at Draco. There was a flash of light and then the room went black.

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An: Yes yes, another cliffhanger. One question, do you like how I'm switching the point of view? Or is it too confusing. The only way for me to know is if you review! (:

BTW: I'm so proud of that one after breakfast scene. It feels like a bit of my soul went into that one. What do you all think of it?


	5. Meeting with the Dark lord

Pansy and Hermione #5

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

AN/ Here's a little break from the ordinary. A different point of view! Thanks again for all the reviews! I appreciate them greatly. By the way, you should have read the 7th book to fully understand Snape's point of view in this chapter.

**Snapes point of view.**

Walking down the dark green hallway of Malfoy manor I got a chill thinking about what I had just seen: several muggle or muggle-born girls, some I recognized from Hogwarts, were chained up, naked and being looked over by the higher up death eaters. It was a ritual that those who wished got the option of having a muggle mistress, although they were never treated with as much respect as a normal 'mistress' would be. They were basically slaves to their wizarding masters, being forced to do whatever despicable acts they were told to do wished.

'Clear your mind.' I thought to myself. 'Don't show fear.' I was on my way to another meeting with the Dark Lord and I needed to be on my toes. I came to a dark wooden door, with a big ornate metal handle and went inside.

The room was dimly lit, the only light coming from a single window whose curtains were drawn and a small crackling fire, but I knew my way well enough around the giant room without lights. In the center of the room was a long table and many death eaters had already taken their seats. I made my way to the very opposite of the door, and took my seat next to the dark lord, who was petting Nagini thoughtfully.

It took him a second to realize that I had sat down. "Ah, Snape." He said glancing over at me as his long boa constrictor slithered to the floor. "Now that you're here we can start the meeting." With a flick of his wand the curtains slammed shut and made the room so dark it was hard to see what was going on. "Let's see, what's first…"

"My Lord." Lucious Malfoy started.

"Ah, yes, Lucious." His name seemed to slither out of his mouth, smooth and dripping with deadly irony. "I believe you had something you wished to discuss with me."

"Yes, My Lord." He paused to see if Voldemort was going to say anything more, then carried on, "You see, it's about the Parkinson Girl."

Bill Parkinson, a thin man with jet-black hair and glasses, looked up sharply. Malfoy ignored this and went on, "You see, she ran away from the manor over summer vacation. The Parkinson family sold her to me 3 years ago and now she's not even staying in the Slytherin dormitories with Draco." The Dark Lord looked from Parkinson to Malfoy and back, seeming to be making judgments and forming a response.

There was a pause and Malfoy added, "We, Draco and I, would like to know if you would be willing to help us with this petty problem." He bowed his head and waited for a response.

Voldemort, pale and fish-like, leaned forward and hissed, "And what would you like me to do about this? Make Draco better in bed?" Some of the Death Eaters chuckled but Voldemort made no attempts to even smile.

"I-I…er…no." He was getting nervous, exactly what Voldemort found as a weakness. "Perhaps we could bring her here and-"

"And do what with her?" he interrupted, his eyes glowing red.

"Teach her. Teach her to never leave again." I saw Bill shrink as these words were said. I wondered why, when he was the one who condemned her to such a fate by selling her in the first place.

'No, stay focused.' I told myself again. I couldn't feel anything, not remorse, not spitefulness, not pride; otherwise Voldemort would be able to sense it.

"I suppose that could be arranged." Voldemort said, finally.

"Thank you, thank you my Lord." Malfoy groveled, bowing again, ever the brown noser.

"But," Voldemort continued, glaring at everyone. "You must do something for me."

"Anything." Malfoy said instantly.

Voldemort seemed pleased; "I'll discuss the details with you privately." I saw Bellatrix look let down that she wasn't chosen to do something for her master. "Now, Betty?"

A blonde witch down at the far end of the table stared at Voldemort with a look of pure adoration. "Yes, my Lord?"

"How are my plans playing out with Hogwarts?"

"Very good, My Lord." She reported, smiling to herself. "The old bat doesn't realize a thing, its wonderful."

"Make sure she stays in the dark for as long as possible." He was petting his snake again, which was now moving in a figure eight pattern around his neck, chest and lap. "We don't need any more delays, is that understood, Tweed?"

"Yes, My Lord."

"Good." He looked as close to satisfied as he could as he pet his snake, looking at the ceiling.

"My Lord?" Tweed started again. "About the Parkinson girl that Malfoy just mentioned…I know where she's staying now." She paused for a moment to bask in the glory of her knowledge. "She's staying with some muggle-born lesbian in a room that I have provided for her. She said that she had 'family problems'."

Malfoy looked shocked. "A _muggle what_?"

"A lesbian. Her name is Hermione Granger, a know-it-all from Gryffindor house." She stated, matter-of-factly.

"Disgusting." I heard Malfoy mutter.

All eyes were now on Voldemort, waiting for him to say something. Finally, "I see." He seemed to be thinking deeply. "I will think about this."

I knew that this couldn't be good, for either girl. Granger certainly was a know-it-all, however I knew that I couldn't let her come into harms way. She reminded me too much of…_her_.

The meeting continued on without any mention of the two girls, they talked of Potter and of their next plan to get rid of him. Malfoy reported that he was having difficulty getting hairs from a clerk in Hogsmede for his polyjuice potion and Parkinson reported how many Inferi they had already lined up, almost ready for use. I was thinking of a way I could warn the girls without drawing attention to myself.

At the end of the meeting, I had just left the room when Parkinson came up behind me. I turned and saw his eyes were filled with tears.

"Hello, Bill." I said, awkwardly ignoring his raw emotion.

"Severus…You need to help me." His face had gone red and I could tell it was painful of him to come to me for help. Not many Death Eaters trusted me. "You heard what they're going to do to my daughter! What am I supposed to do?" he began to sob openly.

"Fool." I muttered and pulled him into an empty room. "Don't ask me for help in such an open place, ever again, got it?" I spat watching fear spread into his eyes.

"W-Will you…?"

"Yes, I will help you." I sighed. "Here I've got a plan. But I'm going to need something from you."

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An/ So sorry for such a short chapter! My next one is already half way written and should be up by either tomorrow or the next day. I just had to add this and combining the chapters was weird. Please Review. ;)


	6. The Halloween Ball

Pansy and Hermione Pansy and Hermione

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling does.

AN: I'm sorry this chapter hasn't come exactly as planned. I've had the stomach flu, and needless to say I wasn't exactly in the mood for editing. Sorry for its lateness! Thank you as always for all the reviews! I'm amazed that I have so many! Thanks bunches!

**Hermione's Point of View.**

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"Get over it, I'm not going to." I glared at Draco.

He sighed. "Fine, fine." And with one swift motion he pulled out his wand and pointed in between my eyes. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this." He spat.

Just then, as if from nowhere two wands emerged from thin air. I recognized them to be Pansy's and Harry's.

Unfortunately Draco saw them and reacted quicker then I had ever seen him move. "EXPELLIARMUS!" he yelled and the force of his spell knocked Harry back into Pansy, who fell unconscious on the floor, Harry's wand went flying away from him.

"PANSY!" I yelled and ran to her. Her nose was swollen and under her eyes was already starting to turn black and blue; it looked like Harry had elbowed her right in the nose as he fell.

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled from the floor, clutching onto Pansy's wand and Draco went ridged and fell to the ground with a thud. Harry got up and went over to the teacups to hold the one meant for me to his nose. "Truth potion all right. Smells as if he had dumped the entire vial into your cup, dirty bastard." He kicked Draco aside and came to help me lift Pansy up.

"We'll need to get her to the infirmary." I said, struggling to hold on to her.

"I got it." He muttered and hoisted her up into his arms. Just as we were about to exit the library McGonagol stormed in with Mr. Filch.

"What is the meaning of this?" McGonagol demanded looking from Pansy to Draco, lying over in the corner.

"Uhm," I started, "Draco was trying to slip me some truth potion in that tea over there. Why, I don't know." Harry left to hurry Pansy to the infirmary. "When I refused the cup, however, he got up and drew his wand threateningly. Harry jumped out and saved me but accidentally hit Pansy in the nose."

"I see." McGonagol said walking over to where Draco lay, unconscious.

"She's telling the truth, ma'm." Flich said, holding up the teacup. "At least about the tea being drugged. This tea reeks of truth potion."

"Well, Let's get Mr. Malfoy to his dormitory. I'll question him in the morning when he wakes up." She levitated him out the door. "I trust you can finish preparing for the Halloween ball by yourself?"

"Um…yeah." I said, a little unsure. There was a lot left to do and if people didn't like the ball I was counting on Draco to take the fall for me.

"Good." Was all she said and she and Mr. Filch followed her out. After I gathered up my stuff and picked up Harry's invisibility cloak, I hurried to the infirmary to see how Pansy was doing. When I got there she was lying in a bed by the window, unconscious, Harry was sitting by her. I sat down across from Harry and glared at him. "What?" He asked, defensively.

"Nothing…" I said simply but he didn't look convinced. "Except, if you guys weren't there spying on me, none of this would be happening, that's all." I stared at Pansy's black eyes and took her hand in mine.

"Hey! Don't go blaming this on me now." He said standing up and throwing his hands up in defense. "I'm the one who just saved you in there, remember?"

I shot him another glare. "I could have handled it myself! You didn't even give me a chance to prove that I could do it!!" I got up too and faced him. "If you weren't so nosy, Pansy would be alright right now!"

"It was her idea in the first place!" He yelled, pointing at Pansy with an accusatory finger.

"Don't go blaming this on her!" I yelled back, furious that he would place her in the blame spot.

"That's not what I meant." His breath was shaky from yelling. "I meant that if you weren't so bent on keeping your worries to yourself, Hermione, then she wouldn't have come to _me_ and asked _me_ for help!" I was astonished. She had…gone behind my back and asked Harry to look after me?

"She…what?" I said, softly.

"You heard me!" Harry was still yelling, obviously still mad. "She could tell you were worried about this meeting that you had, so she came to me and asked me to look after you. To make sure nothing happened to you, in case Malfoy overpowered you. And if you weren't so stuck inside your own little bubble, you would realize that we were just trying to help you!!" And with that he stormed out of the infirmary. My mouth was open in shock. Had he really just said that to me? And more importantly…is what he said actually true?

I sat back down next to Pansy and laid my head down on her hand. Was I really self-centered? I looked up at the girl lying under me. Her bruise was slowly going away thanks to some yellow cream the nurse had smeared on it. I wanted to tell her that I was sorry; I wanted to let her know I was just trying to keep _her_ safe.

I slowly started to fade into a dream.

.

_I was sitting in my Potions class and Pansy wasn't there. The room was misty and filled with students; although I could only see their dark silhouettes threw the mist. I looked down into the cauldron and saw that the pink/orange liquid inside was beginning to bubble ferociously until it bubbled over the sides of the cauldron and onto the floor._

_A deep, ominous voice came out of no-where and I knew it to be the teachers' voice, "Twenty Points from Gryffindor!!" It screamed at me and the various students around me started laughing. Embarrassed, I tried to clean up the mess but it only seemed to get worse underneath the cloth I was using. _

"_What's the matter, Hermione?" Ron sneered from behind the teachers' desk. His was the only face I could recognize. "Can't you even do this right?" And he started laughing at me along with the others. I tried rubbing the mess harder but as I did more of the liquid seemed to seep out from under the towel. _

_I felt hot tears sting my eyes. "No! I _can_ do this right. I know I can!" But the students just laughed harder. I was about to get up and run from the room when I heard another voice._

_This voice was soft and comforting. "Here, use this one." I looked up and saw Pansy holding out a lime green towel. "I think you'll find that it'll work much better." _

_I accepted the towel but didn't look down at the mess. I didn't want her to leave again. She looked distressed and said "Please, use the towel." I reached out for her but she withdrew. "Use it, before it vanishes."_

_I looked down and saw that it was beginning to fade at the edges, so I began moping the foaming liquid hastily. As she had said, it worked quiet well. In fact, it worked instantly; it cleared up the mess right before vanishing itself. The students around me all began to applaud this great deed. I looked up, expecting Pansy to be there beside me, beaming at me, but she had vanished. _

_  
I got up and looked around wildly, where was she? I began hysterically looking around at all the faceless students, who were still applauding in unison, looking for Pansy. Ron was the only one still laughing and pointing at me. His laughs seemed to overpower the now rhythmic applause, and everything was getting louder and louder, all the while I was screaming for Pansy._

_"HERMIONE!!" I heard Pansy's voice but did not see her face. "Wake up! Hermione, please wake up!"_

I awoke to find myself in the infirmary, being shaken by Pansy. I looked around confused, unsure if it was another dream or not, but there was no mist, no faceless students, and the clapping had stopped.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Pansy asked and I looked into her face. Her black eyes had cleared up and her nose was only slightly swollen. "You're crying and you were screaming. Did you have a bad dream?"

I sighed, "Yeah, kinda." I told her about the dream and she embraced me.

"Well, aren't you glad you've woken up?" She asked soothingly.

"You have no idea." I muttered. "You're looking so much better." I said smiling at her.

"I do?" She asked feeling her nose up. "What did it look like before?" I chuckled.

"You don't want to know, trust me."

"Oh, ok." She laughed and I told her what had happened in the library and of the fight that Harry and I just had over her unconscious body. She blushed, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Herms. But Harry's right. We were just trying to keep you safe. If anything had happened to you by that horrible boy I would never forgive myself."

"I know, I've realized that." I took her hand and smiled reassuringly "I just didn't want anything to happen to you. I was so focused on protecting you from him, that I didn't really care what he did to me."

"Hermione…" But she was cut off as McGonagol strode into the room, Filch, Professor Tweed, and Professor Diggle at her heals.

"Pansy, You look better." McGonagol started, examining her nose and eyes.

"So I've heard." She muttered.

"Hermione." She turned to me and I wondered if Draco had woken up yet, and what he had said to her when he did. "Draco has woken up." She sat down on the bed next to Pansy's. "He said that you drugged the tea. He said that you and Harry came into the library, wands drawn and tried to force him to drink it."

"What?" I asked, unbelievingly. "That's not true, Professor!"

"He said that you both threatened Pansy here," she motioned at Pansy. "And when he still didn't comply you punched her in the face."

"That's not true!" Pansy exclaimed, sitting straight up. "Hermione would never do that to me!"

"You're sure, Pansy?" McGonagol asked. "Why don't you tell me what happened, in your own words?"

Pansy shifted back down into her pillows and said, "Harry and I were hiding in the library, because we didn't trust Draco being alone with Hermione. And by the looks of it, we were right." She stretched her legs out, looking uncomfortable to be around so many people. Filch was glaring through tiny slits for eyes and Professor Diggle seemed concerned. The only one of them who I couldn't read was Professor Tweed, who stood there, arms folded, listening intently. "He started by casually saying you gave them the tea, Professor, and when Hermione refused, he got up, drew his wand and threatened to jinx her if she didn't drink it.

"And that's when Harry and I jumped out to save her, but Draco was too quick and he sent Harry flying back into me, which threw me unconscious."

"I see." McGonagol said, still pondering this.

"Why would he try to slip her that potion, then?" Filch asked, narrowing his eyes, even more as his cat sat in his arms, her own eyes narrowed at us.

"Well, I don't know for sure…" She started looking at her hands and pulling loose strings from her sheets, subconsciously. "But I can make a guess." The room of teachers waited for her to finish. "I think he wanted more information on mine and Hermione's relationship."

"And why would he want that?" Professor Diggle asked, thoroughly enthralled in her story.

"It's complicated…" She looked at Professor Tweed. "But Hermione and I have started to be better friends and I've left Draco's side."

"Headmaster, I can vouch for this." Tweed said with a smile, although I caught a glimpse of insincerity on her face. "They've come to me in confidence with they're complaints of this boy. Really nasty fellow, if you ask me, too much like his father and not enough like his mother." I narrowed my eyes at her. How did she know the Malfoy's?

"Very well, I will see to it that Draco is punished severely." McGonagol said, standing up. "In the mean time, I'll be thinking of a replacement Head boy." She turned and walked out of the room, Filch, Professor Diggle and Professor Tweed behind her. Tweed stopped at the door and winked at us before closing it.

"I don't think I trust her." I said simply to Pansy.

.

The weeks following went by fast, as I made the last preparations for the Halloween Ball. McGonagol came to me one night with news of a new head boy.

"Ms. Granger, I have appointed Blaise Zabini as new Head boy." She stated, curtly. "As you know, he got top marks in all his Owls last year and is doing remarkably well this year. I hope that you two will learn to get along, and be the mature adults that I know you are."

I nodded. I honestly didn't have anything against Blaise, well, except for the whole laughing with Draco whenever he called me a mudblood thing, but I could learn to forgive and forget.

A week before the ball and I still hadn't given the house elves the menu for the night or decided the best way to situate the Great hall. I decided to call a head's meeting, why should I do all the work and he get part of the credit? We met in the Great Hall and Pansy came with me this time. We sat down at the almost empty Ravenclaw table, as a way of neutralizing the environment so neither of them felt intimidated, Zabini's idea.

"So, what do we still need to do?" Blaise asked pleasantly, taking a seat across from Pansy and I. I gave Pansy a sideways glance as I pulled out my plans so far.

"We need to decide on a menu." I said simply and pulled out my list of options. "What do you think we should include? So far I have the usual sweets, butterbeer, and some vegetable assortments but I-"

"Wait…what?" he asked, cutting me off.

"I said, I have pies, cakes, candy, butterbeer, vegetable assortments…"

"There! That one, what on earth are you thinking?" He asked laughing slightly. I didn't say anything, looking offended. "No one here is going to want vegetables in a Halloween party! Here let me see that list." He pulled the list so that it faced him. "The candy, the cakes, the pies…all good. Butterbeer, do you have permission for alcohol?" He asked looking up at me.

"Of course!" I said defensively. "At 10:30, the 1st threw 4th years curfew will be put into place and that's when the butterbeer will be placed out in coolers, there" I said pointing to one corner of the Great Hall, "There," Pointed at the adjacent corner, "and at every table."

"Nice." He said, ignoring my tone of voice. "All very good ideas…except for this vegetable thing." He said pointing at the paper with the end of his quill.

"I like vegetables!" I gave him a half glare but it was cut short by his chuckle. I glanced up and I saw that he wasn't laughing in spite of me at all.

"Alright, alright. We'll keep the vegetable table." He said writing down that it was to be limited to one table.

"We also need to decide how we want the room arranged." I said, unsure of how to talk to him now that it was clear he wasn't going to be a total snot to me. I glanced over at Pansy and she had a smile on her face, she glanced at me and gave me a thumbs up.

"Oh, that's easy, I think we should have it like this." He said, drawing a diagram on the back of the parchment. He had it so that the food tables lined the great hall with benches on either side of them. "To provide unity." He stated. This left the middle of the great hall for dancing and the teacher's tables were to be removed to make room for the band, which I had already booked for that evening.

"This is great!" I smiled and pointed my wand at the parchment. "Recoupo." I said and the parchment doubled twice so that I had four copies of the original, I passed one to Blaise and kept one in my stack. "Ok, I'm going to go give these to the proper people."

"Oh, I can do that." Blaise said, standing up holding out his hand to take the parchment. "I need to speak to McGonagol anyway."

I passed him the parchment and smiled at him. "Ok, don't forget to give one to the house elves, please?" He nodded and turned to leave, "Oh, and Blaise?" He turned back and faced us. "Thanks for not being a prick like Malfoy." I said simply not looking at him as I shuffled my papers.

He didn't say anything for a second then he smiled weakly and replied, "I'd have thought by now, you'd have realize that not all Slytherins are wanna be Deatheaters like him, Granger." He didn't wait for my response but turned on his heal to exit the great hall. Embarrassed, I took to packing up my notes in my tan cloth messenger bag.

.

The night of the ball arrived quicker than I thought. I sat in the Great hall herding a couple first years out after lunch so I could begin decorating. I sighed as I pulled my wand out of my robes and began to shoot cob webs and streamers from wall to wall as Blaise started enchanting the Jack-o-lanterns to hover in the air.

With a flick of my wand the tables rose into the air and landed gently to line the walls around the great hall, the benches floating down beside them. In front of me the band was setting up their speakers and their instruments. It was very difficult to book this band, they're one of the most popular in the wizarding world, but when I said that they could have all the free food and butterbeer they wanted, they accepted right away.

I turned around in time to see Pansy peek in behind the door. I smiled and beckoned her to join me. "It looks so good, Hermione!!" She exclaimed looking around at all the enchanted bats flying around. "This is going to be one of the best Halloween dances yet!"

I blushed, "Aw, you're just saying that." She shook her head vigorously. "Thank you." I said quietly.

"Oi! No one but teachers allowed in-" Blaise yelled from his pumpkin pile, but when he realized that it was Pansy with me he smiled and called, "How does it look?"

"Great!" She called back and gave him a double thumbs up. She turned back to me and asked, "So, if it starts at 7:30, we should start to get ready at around 5:00, huh?" I nodded. "Once you're done here, come to our room, I want to show you something." She smiled and kissed me on the cheek before she left; her sugary scent lingering in the air around me.

"So, are we almost done here?" Blaise asked an hour later, walking up to me with an armful of fake miniature troll heads.

"Yeah, I think so." I looked around the hall. It was really spooky; there was cobwebs dripping from ever banister, pumpkins where hovering and bats were flying in and out of view. The fog would roll in about an hour before 7, to give it a more eerie feel. Even the enchanted ceiling was doing its part; the full moon was peaking perfectly from behind a set of storm clouds. "I just want to make sure everything is going well in the kitchen before I go and get ready." I looked at my watch and saw that it was almost 5:30. "I should hurry though."

"I'll go with you. I want to make sure no one and spike the punch," he smirked slightly. "At least not until after the under classmen have left for the night." I laughed and we walked down into the kitchen. We were instantly greeted by the horde of house elves that resided in the kitchens.

"Hello!" I called, smiling at their eager faces. Some of them flinched at how nice I was, remembering my S.P.E.W. days.

"Just wanted to check in and make sure everything was going ok."

"Yes Miss." They said in unison.

"I wanted to remind you to make sure that you put these in the punch bowls before you set them out." Blaise said, holding out the miniature troll heads. The house elves nodded and one small one scurried out to take the heads from him. "Please cue the fog machine to go off at exactly 6:30. And that should be around the time you set out all of the food, too." They nodded again.

As we turned to leave, the house elves dispersed again, into the kitchen to complete their tasks. We left and wandered to our respective common rooms, bidding farewell at the start of the staircases that lead to Gryffindor common room.

"Could you talk to the Bloody Baron and make sure he's up to spooking it up?" I asked as we departed. He nodded and turned a corner out of sight. I had to keep up the appearance that I was still living in the Gryffindor common room so I waited till I could no longer hear his footsteps. Once he had vanished, I doubled back and found the common room that was so near the kitchen that I had just exited.

"Finally you get here!" I heard Pansy's voice before I saw her. She was standing along the staircase, already in costume, looking positively radiant. She had her hair up in a messy bun with white streaks running through it. Her dress fit her perfectly and was very seductive, if I do say so myself. "What do you think?" she asked nervously.

"Beautiful." I said and walked over to her to place my arms around her. I was on a step lower than hers so I was in the perfect position to rest my head on chest. I smiled and listened to her breathing.

"You should hurry and get ready, Herms." She said after a while. I let go and walked upstairs into my bedroom to pull on my costume. The Egyptian costume seemed to match my skin tone perfectly but I was still a little put off that I didn't have the necklace to match it. Shrugging I went downstairs and met up with Pansy who was reading the book she had purchased at Borgin and Burks. I ignored the book and said, "How do I look?" in an overly dramatic tone.

"Gorgeous!" She exclaimed excitedly. "But…there's something missing." She looked puzzled.

"Yeah, the shop didn't have the necklace to match and-" I was cut off when Pansy reached up, seemingly to adjust my hair but pulled out a jade necklace from behind my ear. I gasped. It was the same necklace I had seen in Hogsmede about a month before. "Its…gorgeous." I said holding it up to the light.

"Here let me put it on you." She smiled and brought me closer to her. She wrapped her arms around me and I could smell that intoxicating aroma of hers once more. She leaned back to examine it. "Perfect." She said softy.

"Thank you so much." I whispered and kissed her softly on the mouth. She smiled and brought me in closely to her and kissed again, with passion. My whole body went tingly and I felt like I could melt there in her arms.

.

It was a quarter to ten and everything at the dance was moving forward splendidly. The band was a little disgruntled when they heard they had to wait till 10:30 for alcohol, but were exited to see so much of Hogwarts were fans of theirs. The food was almost gone, all except for the vegetable table that, it seemed, only I was munching on. I shrugged and picked up another carrot to munch on as I patrolled the dance floor for trouble. The band was playing a loud, jumpy song and everyone on the floor was jumping around wildly, banging into each other without care. Pansy came up behind me and said, "How's it going, Cleo?" She grinned magnificently.

"Great!" I called back having to raise my voice to be heard above the music. "What do you think everyone else thinks of it?"

"Brilliant, as usual!" she laughed as the song came to an end and a slow song began. "Want to dance?"

I looked around. Although we were in costume we were still more recognizable then I had thought. I was about to tell her it was too risky when I got an idea. "Follow me." I said and took off for the hallway. Once outside I followed the corridor till I was behind a statue of a Griffin, the music was loud enough we could here it all the way out there.

"May I have this dance?" I asked, in a weird gentlemen's voice.

"I declare, you may." She said in a horrible rendition of a southern accent. I took her hand in mine and she brought her other hand to hold the small of my back. We swayed back in forth, looking into each other's eyes for the longest time. Finally we gave up dancing and kissed.

At first, sweetly then as our passion for one another increased more rough. I could feel her tongue slide across my lips and I greeted it with my own, kissing with intensity that I had never known with Ron. We broke apart, and stared into each other's eyes once more, and hugged. I just wanted to be near this girl. The girl that had so much doubt and so little self esteem, I wanted to be the one who could make it all better for her. I wanted her to feel safe in my arms, the way I felt safe in hers. The song ended but we stood for a couple seconds longer, holding each other and feeling our hearts thumping behind our ribs.

When we arrived back at the great hall, the band was playing yet another fast paced jumpy song and Pansy and I took to watching everyone dance. We saw Harry and Ginny dancing close together, Ginny dancing a little closer to Harry then some of the girls around them, although Harry didn't seem to mind and he grinded right back.

Just then Ron emerged from out of nowhere and punched Harry directly in the eye. "Stop making my sister dance like a WHORE." He screamed at Harry. I bounded forward, my wand drawn but Blaise, who was dressed up as Professor Snape, got there first and restrained him physically.

I ran to Harry and Ginny was already performing medicinal magic to put bandages on his cut, although she must of done it a little too much because soon his entire left side of his face was covered in white bandages. From behind me I heard the lead singer of the band yelling: "Hey! What's going on over there! Stop fighting, you two!" I turned around and saw that Ron had freed himself from Blaise and was now trying to punch him in the face. Lavender was crying next to them, trying to calm Ron down, but Ron was ignoring her.

"Protego!" I yelled pointing my wand at the two of them and instantly a bubble formed around Ron so he could not get closer than three feet away from any other person.

"Blaise, could you wheel him into the hall so we can take him to see Professor McGonagol, please?" I asked calmly putting my wand away in the pocket of my costume.

"You're not the boss of him!!" Ron yelled as he was being levitated out into the hall. I rolled my eyes and went straight to the front of the room.

"I'm sorry for the disturbance." I told the band quickly. They shook their heads and offered me the microphone, which I took and said, "It is now 10:30. All underclassmen are now required to go back to your common rooms, I'm sorry for the interruption." I looked around at all the groaning underclassmen and the excited upperclassmen. "House Prefects, please make sure no one from your house is still here in ten minutes. Professor McGonagol has put an enchantment on the Hall that will turn you into things that I think you'd rather not be, if you were underage and still in the hall." I smiled devilishly and handed back the microphone. Needless to say that little announcement made sure no underclassmen had stuck around. I went out into the hall and found Blaise and Ron bickering amongst a group of second years.

"You're just a…s-stupid Slytherin!" Ron slurred, obviously drunk again. My face became hot with anger.

"Ronald!" I said sternly, my sudden appearance seemed to shock him into speechlessness. "If I ever catch you drinking again, I will be sure that your mother knows! As for now," I checked my watch. "McGonagol should be here any minute to check up on the party. When she does-"

"When I do…?" McGonagol cut me off, yet again, coming up from behind me in stunning dark purple dress robes. As Blaise explained the situation to her Ron was starting to doze off in his own protective bubble, drooling out the sides of his mouth as he leaned up against the sides of his bubble. It took me all my strength not to pop the bubble and see him fall to the floor.

"Mr. Weasley!" She said sternly, glaring in astonishment at the red headed boy. "Follow me to my office this instant!" This seemed to snap him back into consciousness and he followed McGonagol down the hall, looking drowsy.

I grinned at Blaise. "Thanks."

"No problem." He said and we entered the great hall once more. The rest of the night Pansy, Blaise, Harry, Ginny and I all hung out together. At first Harry and Ginny were a little weary of Blaise, they didn't seem to know how to act around him but after a couple butterbeers we all unwound and had a real good time.

"Get this!" Harry was saying, animatedly. "I thought that you were a Deatheater at f-first!" He and Ginny laughed hysterically and Blaise chuckled, obviously better at holding his liquor.

"No, I'm not. But I've learned that appearances and first impressions can be misleading." He grinned at me and Pansy and said, "I always thought that Pansy was Malfoy's bitch, that Hermione here, was a stuck up know it all, and that you, Harry, was just Dumbeldore's favorite."

Harry and Ginny looked up, not knowing Blaise's intention of this comment. Then Pansy, Blaise and I all burst into laughter, me trying to lighten the mood. Seeing that it was just a joke they laughed too. We got up and danced the night away, Ginny with Harry and Blaise with Pansy and I.

.

On our way back to our common room Pansy stopped me. "Hermione. I wanted to say that tonight was the best night of my entire life." She seemed tired and a little tipsy, but sincere.

"It was mine too." I took her hand in mine and continued walking down the hall. "I don't know when I've had so much fun!" We turned the corner to where our portrait stood but something was wrong. The portrait door was swung open already. We looked at each other and drew our wands, going inside with caution we were met by a tall, thin man with jet-black hair and glasses that was sitting on the arm of one of the couches.

"Who are you?" I asked sharply, pointing my wand at him deliberately, but he didn't look at me, he looked behind me at Pansy. His eyes seemed to be filling with tears as soon as he saw her and I heard him whisper, "Pansy…"

I looked back at Pansy briefly. She was angrier then I had ever seen her, nostrils flaring and her face was red. She held up her wand higher and said, "Hello, Father."

.

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An/ Oh, my gosh, sorry! Like I said, I've been sick lately, and trying to get a job. I hope the next one gets put up sooner than this one did! Review away. :)


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